


Always the Bridesmaid

by damalur



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-04
Updated: 2010-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-06 15:04:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damalur/pseuds/damalur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"I was waltzing, Scherbatsky.  Or trying to - you weren't much help.  Do I spy a tipsy bridesmaid?"</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Always the Bridesmaid

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Vagina Fest '09](http://takethewords.livejournal.com/386263.html?thread=5226455#t5226455), for the prompt "slow dancing."

He pulls her onto the dance floor without any warning; champagne sloshes from the flute she's holding and runs over her hand, sticky and gold. "Barney, _wait_," she says, laughing, and sets the glass down on the table. He pulls at their clasped hands again, tugs her out to the dance floor, and sweeps her into his arms. His feet begin doing something complicated and foreign; she tries to keep up, but their legs tangle together and she falls against him, still laughing.

"What are you doing?" she asks his lapel.

"I was waltzing, Scherbatsky. Or trying to - you weren't much help. Do I spy a tipsy bridesmaid?"

"I can't dance even when I'm sober," she tells him, somewhat fuzzily. His arm's still pressed to the small of her back. "And since when do you know how to waltz, anyway?"

Barney chuckles and sets her back on her feet. "A gentleman knows how to dance with a lady." He folds one of her hands in one of his and steps closer to her again. He starts to sway gently, no complicated acrobatics of the feet, and she starts to sway with him.

"You aren't a gentleman," she says.

"Nah." He sounds amused. "But I cut a fine figure in a suit anyway."

"You do," Robin agrees, and his eyebrows lift in surprise. He's just the right height - tall enough that she can get away with her highest heels, but short enough that she can still look him in the eye without craning her neck. And she's at a wedding, and she just broke up with Ted, and yeah, she's had a couple glasses of champagne, and Barney does look fine in that tux -

_Not_ a good line of thinking. She sighs and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Always the bridesmaid, Scherbatsky?" His voice is low, his breath warm against her ear.

"I knew you were a magician," she says to his chest, "but I didn't know you were a mind-reader." The material of his jacket is rich and smooth beneath her cheek. "I like my job," she bursts out, "I do. I wasn't lying when I told Ted I didn't want a long-term commitment. But - "

"You're lonely," Barney says, and squeezes her hand. "It's alright, Scherbatsky. It happens to the best of us at weddings."

She lifts her head. "Even you?"

There's a strange look in his eyes, almost uneasy. He tucks a tendril of hair behind her ear and grins at her suddenly. "The Barnacle isn't _ever_ alone at a wedding. Did you not see me with the fourth-hottest bridesmaid earlier?"

"Barney, Lily doesn't even have that many bridesmaids."

"Yeah, well," he says, and spins her out and and then back in a move as abrupt as it is practiced. "I've got the _first_-hottest bridesmaid right here, so you wanna argue about it?"

She smiles and tucks her head back beneath his chin. "Thanks, Barney."

He pulls her closer and presses a kiss to her hair. "Any time, Scherbatsky. For you, any time."


End file.
